THE ladies national championships have reached the final and play-offs stage in Area 10, with Westlecot still involved in no fewer than six events plus one mixed competition.

Wendy Anderson is still running in four championship events, Sylvia Wells in three, while Jenny Vowles and the Smith sisters Lucy and Katy are all involved in two each.

In the ladies singles 15 year-old Katy Smith, in her first season of championship competitions, is through to the area final and is due to play Gill Fry (Gloucester) away on Tuesday, January 15.

Meanwhile, she has also qualified for the Area 10 pairs final with elder sister, 17 year-old Lucy Smith. They are set to play England international Amy Stanton and her partner Val Pedlingham (Malvern Hills) in the final at Cotswold (Stroud) on Monday January 14.

Wendy Anderson (skip) and Jenny Vowles, plus Sylvia Wells (triples) and with both Val Coles and Jill Webb (sub for Janet Willis) in the fours, are due to play two area finals at MidGlos.

They play the fours final on January 13 (10am) and the triples six days later on January 19 (10am) against Maryann Pye (MidGlos) and Marian Wheatley (Leominster) respectively.

Wells and Anderson are also through to the area final in the over 60s pairs and are scheduled to play Maryann Pye and Ann Leach (MidGlos) on January 14.

Ellen Bolland joins Wells and Anderson, a previous winner of the national over 50s Two Wood Triples in 2005, for the inter-area final against a trio from Welford-on-Avon led by Christine Woolhead at Bromsgrove IBC tomorrow.

The prize for the winners is a place in the final stages and last 16 at Northampton IBC in mid-February.

Westlecot father and daughter, Neil and Lucy Smith, after defeating Fairford pairing Linda Kingston and Richard Young 19-7 in the mixed pairs semi-final, have to play Malvern Hills under 18 International Ryan Atkins and his partner Jean Meek in the Area 10 final at Cotswold (Stroud) on Friday, January 11 (6.30pm).

Neil Smith has already qualified for the final stages and last 16 in the Champion of Champions singles event at Warner Leisure, Hayling Island at the beginning of February.

He moved to within one match of claiming a place in the national singles championship finals at Nottingham in late March when he beat Carterton’s Stuart Richens 21-15 at Westlecot on Thursday evening in the Area 10 semi-final.

Smith started well and raced into a 9-1 lead after six ends and by the 10th end had moved 17-1 up. But Richens snatched a single and changed the length of the mat and won seven ends on the trot to cut the gap to only 17-13.

Smith then stopped the charge and quickly reasserted his superiority and closed out the match with a count of three to win the semi-final 21-15. In the final Smith will meet either Ryan Atkins or his Malvern Hills team colleague M Holmes.

England triallist Smith has also qualified for the Area 10 triples semi-finals against Cotswold (Dave Howes) along with Kevin Embling and Ian Jefferies. Embling and Jefferies have also reached the area semi-finals in the pairs and due to lock horns with Michael Woodbridge and his Cotswold partner by January 27.